Rebuilding Bridges
by Elinde
Summary: Thranduil and Legolas travel to Imladris for the first time since Greenwood lost her queen. Thranduil's main objective is to find out where he stands with Elrond's family now that their main tie has gone. Legolas, however, has just come to have fun.
1. Arrival

**Disclaimer: all characters and places belong to JRR Tolkien and his estate, not to me.**

A/N: Well I'm back... kind of. I have loads of story ideas but no idea how to write most of them down. This one is actually pretty recent. So yeah, if there's suddenly a large gap it's because I don't know how to word a scene/chapter. Fingers crossed that won't be the case.

Enjoy!

* * *

Five people waiting in the yard tensed as the sound of hooves finally reached them. Erestor and Celebrian remained passive, Elrond's stomach was filled with apprehension and the twins began standing on tiptoes, craning their necks as if this would enable them to see the visitors any sooner.

Elrond's apprehension was not surprising; he had not seen the Greenwood family for over a decade, not since his family, including his in-laws, and Amroth had travelled to the Woodland realm to see the very young prince. But it had been a very different Thranduil who had greeted them all, even Celeborn and Galadriel, with utmost grace and warmth; he had just become a father which was enough to make even an icicle of a person melt... and Míriel was still alive then. If something went wrong in their conversation it would end in yet another shouting match. Things were different for the others; if things came to an awkward silence between Eldu and Erestor, Erestor could always fall back on the profession they both shared; way-back-when in the Elder days both Elves had been scribes. The pair had shared many conversations about font sizes, line spacing and margins; conversations that drove Elrond to distraction. Celebrian and the twins had been to Greenwood far more recently and therefore knew what to expect... more or less.

Celebrian glanced across to her husband and saw his inner turmoil. She took his hand in hers and squeezed, reassuringly, "Just relax and be yourself."

Elrond snorted, "If I do that, we'll be screaming at each other before tomorrow."

"You know that's not true," Celebrian sighed, "you don't actually argue that much; you just remember all the occasions where you have. He's a civilised Elf and he's not going to bite you."

"If he does, I'll bite him back! He wasn't exactly sympathetic towards me when Elros died."

"Because you knocked him out before he could say anything," Erestor reminded his lord from where he stood on the steps behind them. Elrond closed his eyes and counted to ten; he could always count on Erestor standing up for Thranduil in the king's absence. He had been considering ordering Erestor to stop until he heard that Galion played a similar role in Thranduil's courts, reining in Thranduil when his accusations became venomous.

The twins did not share any of these worries, they enjoyed entertaining the princeling, mainly because it gave them an excuse to behave childishly but also because Legolas was sweet but not against a little mischief, and Thranduil, glad to have Legolas taken off his hands for a few hours, kept out of their way.

A clear whinny heralded Eryn's arrival. Seconds later, the elegant, silvery white mare trotted into the courtyard amid shouts of welcome from the twins. Legolas cheered back as Elrohir gathered up her reins and Elladan caught Legolas as Thranduil passed him down from his seat on Eryn's withers.

"Welcome to our stamping ground, penneth!" Elladan said as he put Legolas on the floor. Legolas started talking immediately,

"I couldn't see it. I couldn't see it until we were going down the slopes of the valley. Eryn walked funny; she was very bouncy. I didn't like it but I didn't fall off."

Thranduil snorted from behind them. He had dismounted now, too, and was removing all the paraphernalia required when travelling with a small child from his strange, stirrupless saddle. Elrohir and a stable hand were in a good natured 'discussion' as to who should lead Eryn to the stables.

"Tell you what; you do your job," Thranduil said to the stable hand, taking the reins from Elrohir and passing them to him. "And you, penneth, can help me carry this lot," he said, putting his satchel on his shoulder and passing his bow, quiver, cane and one of the two saddlebags to the younger twin. Elrohir accepted the compromise, ignoring Elrond's pursed lips at seeing his son being used as a porter. Thranduil straightened his hat before taking up the second saddlebag and a small bundle of blankets and nodding at Elrohir to lead the way.

"I hope you don't mind a delayed introduction," Thranduil said apologetically as he passed Elrond, Celebrian and Erestor, "only I don't like leaving my things with strangers."

"Of course not!" Celebrian answered before Elrond had the chance to.

"ADA! I don't have to go inside yet, do I?" Legolas called from where Elladan was showing him how to make it look like he'd severed his thumb. It was difficult to position all your fingers correctly but when done well it was very effective, as Elladan was demonstrating.

"Aren't you sleepy, my darling?" Thranduil asked, suddenly realising just how tired _he _was. Legolas looked at him from under his eyelids, wearing the expression that endeavoured to stave off an unwanted answer without being full blown 'cold-pathetic-puppy-on-your-doorstep',

"No, Ada, I slept on the way this morning."

_Alright for some_ Thranduil thought. "Alright then, penneth, you can stay with Elladan. Stay _here_, mind. I'll be back in a bit," he added, the statement directed at the twins' parents.

"UNCLE! Hurry up!" Elrohir called from the end of the entrance hall – he hadn't stopped when Thranduil had. Elrond's fist clenched; the twins had an uncle, they didn't need to make Thranduil a substitute.

Celebrian smiled sympathetically at Thranduil, "You're in high demand." Thranduil raised his eyebrows tiredly: tell me about it. Changing his grip on the saddlebag and blanket bundle, he followed his guide, slightly slower than Elrohir would have liked. As soon as the Sinda had caught up with him, he began filling him in on all the news he'd missed over the past decade. Thranduil stopped listening early on in the proceedings, nodding every now and then when Elrohir stopped for breath to make out that he was paying attention.

Legolas, having almost mastered the severed thumb trick by now, trotted over to Celebrian and showed her. She watched with distain before glaring slightly at her son, "That is revolting. Why would anyone want to pretend they'd hurt themselves?"

"I'm going to show Ada when he comes back!" The young Elf announced.

"He'll probably love it," Elrond muttered, causing Celebrian to let out a long suffering sigh.

The conversation reached a natural lull then and the older Elves watched as the stable hand tried and failed to get the impish Eryn to move. She wanted to meet everyone too and had no intention of being put into a stable or even a paddock just yet. Erestor moved off the step and over to the horse, patting her neck first and then moving to scratch her ears when she put her head down. After a while, he removed his hand and leant against her shoulder,

"Go on, away with you, you head-strong creature!"

Now she had been fussed over, she moved easily. The stable hand made a mental note to warn the other hands about her tricksy behaviour. Erestor turned back to look at the others and shrugged, "Good manners are everything."

Elrond closed his eyes for the second time, "So you're telling me that even his _horse_ demands manners?"

Erestor shrugged again, "Mae."

"Give me strength!" Elrond whispered, still with his eyes closed.

"What?" Erestor asked as he returned to his old place, humour in his voice, "She's older than you; she deserves a little respect."

Elrond was forming a response when events forced him to hide his annoyance. Two voices wafted to them through the open doors of Imladris; one intrigued, one fatigued.

"Can I have my stick back?"

"Oh, yes of course, but how can you call it your 'stick'? A staff needs more reverence than that!"

"This isn't my staff; it's a cane if you want to give it a fancy name."

"Not your staff?"

"No."

"Oh."

"You didn't seriously think it was, did you?"

"Well... it's staff shaped."

"Maaee, but it's also not make of oak, not carved, nowhere near thick or tall enough and has a metal pommel."

"Well I'm _sorry,_" Elrohir said, laughing at the long list Thranduil had just given him, "But if it isn't to show your rule, what is it for?"

"To help me walk," Thranduil said as though this was obvious, "and I suppose it could be a weapon."

"Ah yes, that makes sense. You _are _limping after all."

"I always limp. But I suppose it is worse than usual at the moment. And no; I'm not elaborating."

The pair stepped outside onto the main steps. Thranduil stopped here but Elrohir carried on to rejoin his twin. Part of their conversation reached the adults' ears;

"You taught him the severed thumb trick? _Genius_!"

As if on cue, Legolas came running up to his father, arms outstretched. In one fluid, well practiced movement, Thranduil flipped his cane under his arm, picked his son up under the arms and span him round, spinning off the steps and into the courtyard as he did so, his green frockcoat fanning out behind him.

Thranduil appeared to be very finely dressed in his deep green coat with flared cuffs to accommodate lacy sleeves (these weren't being worn at the moment) and his lacy cravat filling in the gap between his throat and lapels. However the coat was worn – the cuffs were fraying and the colour had faded unevenly across the fabric – and the lace was grimy – yellowing in places and grey around the edges. When new, they had been part of a very grand outfit but they had been new thousands of years ago. Now they had been downgraded to travelling clothes. The only thing that still sparkled like new was the brooch that held the lace in place. It was shaped like a silver bird with very long wings and tail. Elrond had a very fine, burgundy robe in his wardrobe with a similar story. He had worn it with pride at Gil-Galad's functions but Gil-Galad had held many and they had quickly taken their toll on the fabric. After a rip in it had had to be repaired, Elrond had taken the hem up so it didn't brush along the floor and now wore it on normal days when he didn't have to dress up to the nines. The rumour among Men that Elven lords, ladies, queens and kings were always impeccably dressed was therefore unfounded. In fact, Thranduil used the fact that Celeborn and Galadriel might actually conform to this rumour as ammunition against them. "They aren't even rulers!" Thranduil would spit on the various occasions when the subject came up.

"Ada?" Legolas asked when Thranduil stopped spinning him and held him against his chest (along with a 'you're getting too big for this' comment), "Can I show you something?"

"That depends what the something is," Thranduil predictably replied. Legolas wriggled and his father set him down. The Elfling went though the severed thumb routine with the twins looking on eagerly. "Impressive!" The Sinda praised, looking beyond his son to the grinning twins, "Did you two teach him this? It's very well done, if worrying that you have nothing better to do." The smiles faded instantly.

Elrond threw his arms wide, "See! What do I keep telling the pair of you?"

"But you aren't Thranduil. When you say it we feel no obligation to comply," Elladan said, knowing that he was playing with fire. Elrond marched off the step, brushing Thranduil aside, and launched into a lecture. Legolas watched the proceedings, comparing it to similar episodes between him and his father. He was still absentmindedly severing his thumb.

Thranduil removed his cane from under his arm and moseyed over to stand beside Celebrian.

"While those three are busy," she said, "I think a formal welcome is in order." She turned to him and pecked him on each cheek in what she knew was the way of the Sindar of Neldoreth. (It was how her parents greeted others even though they weren't from Neldoreth.) Thranduil didn't pull away this time – when she and the twins had visited, he rebuked even these smallest and innocent of kisses as they reminded him of his wife – and even returned them as best he could. He then subjected Erestor to this greeting; the advisor wasn't best pleased. "Well come to Imladris, meldir-nín," Celebrian continued once Erestor's sour face had gone, "It has been too long since your last visit."

"Hannon-le," Thranduil replied, bowing slightly, "And thank you for accepting us into your home." Both turned to look at Legolas, who stood enthralled by Elrond's monologue. "I apologise in advance for all the damage that will be caused."

* * *

Gah, I keep forgetting the translations:

_Ada_ – Dad

_Mae_ – Yes

_Penneth_ – Little one

_Hannon-le_ – Thank you


	2. Impersonations

A/N: sorry for the long delay! –hands out biscuits-

* * *

Celebrian smiled gently at Thranduil's words, "Never fear; the twins have prepared us for almost anything."

As if on cue, Elrond ran his hands through his precisely styled hair and sighed in exasperation, "How many times have I told you all this?"

"Too many times," the twins replied in unison, causing little Legolas to giggle. Elrond looked at the young prince and then over to his father, who was leaning on his cane and watching the proceedings with interest. Erestor's chin appeared on Thranduil's shoulder,

"It's bad manners to leave your guests standing on the doorstep thus, my lord."

"Bad manners," Elrond repeated in a whisper. Thranduil raised his left eyebrow and the left corner of his mouth turned up. "_Bad manners_," Elrond said again, then muttered under his breath, "kill me now.

"Right," he said, more loudly this time, "you two," pointing to the twins, "disappear."

"Come!" Elrohir said brightly to Legolas, "come with us."

"Where to?"

"Our _garden of mystique_!" Elladan said, waving his fingers mysteriously around his face. Celebrian rolled her eyes and Elrohir winked. Then each taking one of the princeling's hands, they left the courtyard.

"Three birds with two stones," Erestor said, removing his chin from his friend's shoulder. "I don't think we'll see much of them until they get hungry."

Elrond approached the steps, hand extended, "Sons should follow fathers and fathers should follow sons," he said, stiltedly, "Would you care to partake of a little wine in my company, Thranduil?"

Thranduil's eyes sparkled, "So long as it _is _wine and not just fermented grape juice."

Elrond shrugged, "Well have had a decanter of our finest set aside, I hope the alcohol content will meet up to your... above average expectations. And besides, even if it doesn't to show distain would be to show-"

"Bad manners," the pair said in unison.

"I should never dream of insulting a host so, my lord," Thranduil reassured his host, though Elrond strangely didn't feel all that reassured, "I shall merely lie through my teeth while here and moan to high heaven when I return home."

"It does gladden the heart to know you have your particular sense of humour back, meldir-nín."

"Just get inside!" Celebrian exclaimed, waving them inside.

Elrond and Thranduil made 'oooh' comments, before linking arms – quite possibly to further irk Celebrian who was already shaking her head profusely – and made their way through the corridors to the hall that had been set aside. This left just Celebrian and Erestor outside, looking at each other with lips pursed against the laughter than threatened.

"In all seriousness though, meldir," Elrond continued as he poured two goblets of wine and pressed one into Thranduil's hand, "it is wonderful to see you back to your old self again so soon. It is all too easy to have hang ups, isn't it? But it really is better to completely walk away from your mourning clothes as quickly as possible." He sipped his wine and waited for Thranduil to so the same. But he didn't. "Well?" Elrond pressed after a while, "How do you like it?" Thranduil blinked and dutifully sipped the drink. Elrond watched as Thranduil swallowed and considered,

"It's fine quality," he said. Elrond relaxed – though he'd never admit it to anyone, even himself, Thranduil approving his wine mattered to him. Thranduil smiled slightly.

"So why are you here?"

Thranduil placed his goblet on the table, "No reason really. I just... needed a change of scene... and Legolas and I were beginning to miss you.

"And don't smile like that; it's worrying."

Elrond swiftly wiped the simpering smile from his face – Thranduil hardly ever admitted that he missed anyone here in Imladris – and straightened his robes again. There was a short silence.

"Thranduil?"

"Mae?"

Elrond licked his lips, nervously, "Could you... could you ask the twins _not _to call you 'Uncle' in future?" Thranduil nodded,

"I didn't ask them to start-"

"I never said you did!" Elrond suddenly snapped. "But every time they call you that it gets me right here." He slapped his hand over his stomach. Thranduil looked on nervously; somehow whenever Elros marched in the direction of a conversation between these two Elves Elrond tended to get violent.

"I'll talk to them," the king promised, "and I won't answer to that address any longer."

Elrond smiled; he didn't want to lose his temper either.

A second longer silence followed.

"Shall I take your coat?" Elrond asked eventually, stepping towards the king.

In answer, Thranduil removed his coat and threw it over the back of a nearby chair. Elrond's expression puzzled him, "What? It may be battered but it's not going to grow legs and walk away! And it's not going to eat the chair either."

Elrond made no reply. His gaze was fixed on Thranduil and, more specifically, on the thick black silk band that ran diagonally across his chest from his left shoulder. Elrond swallowed and looked levelly at Thranduil's bemused face. He licked his lips and asked in a voice laced with disappointment and menace,

"What's the sash in aid of?"

oOo

"Ada's walk is easy," Elladan said, assuming the long, confident strides of Elrond and sweeping round the lawn a few times.

"As is Nana's," Elrohir added, following his twin with quicker, more fluid steps, "But your back is not straight enough."

"You think not?"

"Imagine that you have a long board running down your spine."

Elladan did so and circuited again, this time far more convincingly. Legolas giggled and twisted round in the long grass to make sure the lord was not watching them.

"Daernana's walk is similar to Nana's," Elrohir said once he had the youngest Elf's attention again. He walked close round the prince, his steps long and fluid and his hands trailing slightly behind him. Legolas looked lost.

"You haven't met Galadriel, have you?" Elladan asked. Legolas shook his head. "Then there's no point doing Daerada...Well that was a very good impression of her." Legolas watched the younger twin intently and committed the walk to memory.

"What about your Ada, penneth?" Elrohir asked, kneeling down in the grass next to the Wood-elf. The Elfling thought for a while,

"I don't know... he just walks."

"Naaah, you see? This is the thing about impressions; you have to really look at how people move or talk. You'll soon see individual traits!" Elladan exclaimed. "Thranduil's quite a flamboyant person so..." He walked about a bit with very bouncy steps before turning back to Legolas. "Any good?" Legolas shook his head, grinning at Elladan's failed attempt.

"Your walk's too even," chided Elrohir, the critic. "The king walks with a limp, mae? So you need to be lopsided, like this;" The Peredhel completed the same circuit as his twin, the limp very pronounced.

"That's even worse!" Legolas giggled, "And Ada doesn't bounce."

"Alright then, Herdir Know-it-All," the twins said in unison, crouching down on either side of the prince, "your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to be amazing at impersonating His Majesty next time we visit each other."

Legolas looked at each of the twins in turn, "Alright!

"Ooh, ooh! I know how he acts when getting angry."

"You would," Elladan teased. Legolas carried on as if he hadn't been interrupted

"His face goes all tight like this," Legolas assumed an expression that looked like he'd been sucking a lemon.

"I think everyone does that, penneth," Elrohir said, gently.

"Maaaaeee, but when he's standing up he puts his hands on his hips like so." Legolas scrambled to his feet and put his hands firmly on his hips, cocked his head to one side and glared into the middle distance, his lips becoming more and more pursed to indicate his father's growing distain.

"That _is_ interesting," the twins murmured in unison as Legolas sat back down.

"Ada's eyebrows migrate up his forehead," Elladan said and both twins tried to mimic this with mixed success. "I don't know how he does it."

"I swear his eyebrows are magical."

"Who's eyebrows are magical?" A clipped voice from behind them asked. All three jumped up and turned round to see Erestor gazing at them steadily. "You do know that impressions can be very hurtful?"

"Of course we do," Elladan replied, voice like honey, "we're just entertaining Legolas to keep him out of Uncle's hair."

Erestor looked them all up and down for a few moments, then, "Alright then, but have a care that it doesn't become malicious." The three children nodded obediently. "Remember; I'm watching you," the advisor warned before continuing up to the house. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching them intently enough to notice that the twins' were impersonating his affected regal lope just a few steps behind him.

The twins only followed him for a few yards before returning to fetch their little charge who was snorting in an effort to keep his laughter to himself.

"I don't know about you but all these impersonations have made me peckish," Elladan said, taking Legolas's hand. "I vote we go and raid the kitchens."

Legolas's expression lit up even more, "Do they have honey lembas?"

"Let us find out," Elrohir said, taking the young prince's other hand.

"I love honey lembas; it's so sweet and crunchy," Legolas mumbled wistfully, already licking his lips as he was led up to the house.

On their way to the kitchen, they heard two very familiar voices raised in argument. As they passed an open door to a hall, they could see Thranduil with his back to them, hands fairly glued onto hips. Upon hearing them approaching, the Sinda span round and glared daggers at them. Beyond the king, further into the hall, Elrond could easily be seen, also staring daggers at the next generation. His eyebrows were doing a very good job of merging into his hairline. Fathers and children stared at each other for a few long seconds. Then Thranduil waved them briskly away with his hand,

"_Bado!"_

Legolas and the twins obediently went. The door slammed shut in their wake.

"Wonder what they were arguing about."

Thranduil leant on the door for a while after slamming it, breathing deeply and watching Elrond with a cold eye. Elrond was doing much the same. Elrond breathed out and began again, this time in his normal speaking voice,

"But seriously, Thranduil, wearing that sash isn't helping you. It's forcing you to remember, forcing

you to grieve."

"Really? Then tell me, if it is making me grieve then why am I not moping around your halls trying to think of ways of killing myself? Why am I not fading away?"

Elrond winced at Thranduil's questions. He couldn't look into his eyes either. "If you doffed the last piece of black you would feel freer, meldir, I can assure you-"

"How dare you assume to know how I would feel,_ Lord Elrond_? You may be a healer but that doesn't mean you know anything about the mind!"

'Lord Elrond', not 'meldir'. Elrond sighed; he may as well give up now. But secretly he was enjoying this. "Well I think experience would have taught me some things that are true for every mind-"

"Think again. You know nothing about how my mind works. Only one person who still lives knows me inside out and that sure as I'm Sinda isn't you!"

Elrond admitted defeat then. Thranduil read his expression. He opened the door while keeping eye contact, then span round it as soon as it was open enough and slammed it behind him. Once he was sure the other was out of earshot, Elrond muttered, "Why didn't you bring Galion with you, then?"


	3. Tricks

A/N: so sorry about the huge gap; I forgot the ending! This isn't the one I had planned at first but I think it's better. It only hit me earlier this week which is why I'm only updating now. Push for the finish, guys! If there are any mistakes then I apologise; it was getting late by the time I finished this.

* * *

Though he had now been in Imladris for a week, Legolas hadn't yet got bored of the early morning movements of Imladris. Each morning, before Ada came to get him to go down to breakfast, he got dressed and went to sit out on the balcony and looked out across the valley. Every morning as the shadows shied away from the sun across the valley, the stable hands let out the horses kept in the stables not too far from Legolas' room. The horses always whinnied and bucked in the ménage and the stable hands always smiled and sang songs about the wild horses which roamed on the great plains far to the south which no hand could tame.

The words brought vivid images to the Elfling's mind and he wondered if he would ever see them. When he was younger, he had wanted to travel the known world with Ada, but now he knew that days when his father mounted Eryn and travelled to far-off places on a whim were behind him. This didn't bother Legolas though, for his father had told him that 'kings stay home and look after the people; it is the princes' job to ride with the wind and rediscover what lies beyond the horizon.' Princes meant him, Legolas. The prince was determined to see where his father actually came from, though Thranduil had closed his eyes and shaken his head when Legolas told him so. Legolas also knew that his father was itching to return home, which _did _bother him; he was having far too much fun to leave just yet. He and the twins still hadn't seen what the pot in the fish pond had trapped, or where the once well-trod but now overgrown path through the woods led to.

Directly below him, cooks hurried hither and thither to and from the kitchens, and from the kitchens also there came the most wondrous smells. Legolas stood up an leant over the balustrade trying to catch as much of the scent as possible, and hoped his father would come to get him soon. He had had the offer of going down himself but, though he loved the twins, the early mornings and late evenings were the only chances he got to be alone with his father while Elladan and Elrohir were entertaining him. Though Ada would never check fish traps and knew the whole of Greenwood like the back of his hand, or so it seemed to his young son, so 'exploring' with him frustrated the child even when Thranduil pretended to be just as surprised to find a clearing at the end of that particular path as his son was. Legolas had learnt very early on how to tell when his father was pretending: he knew, for example, when Ada was lying on the floor intending to ambush him when he got too close, and when something was the matter and he needed to get Galion.

The knock on the door made Legolas forget the smell of food for a while as he scrambled across the room, undid the latch and slowly opened the heavy door. Thranduil smiled quietly at his already slightly dishevelled son. As he had every day since the first evening of their arrival, he wore his battered coat. Legolas thought it made him look like he was going somewhere, so over the past week a small tradition had begun.

Stepping through the door and looking nervously at his father's coat, Legolas would ask, "We aren't leaving today, are we, Ada?"

And so far, Thranduil had replied, "No, penneth, not today. And seeing as we aren't leaving, shall we partake of breakfast?"

This morning was no exception, and upon hearing the question that wasn't really a question Legolas' face lit up and he skipped away down the corridor in front of his father. "I'll need to eat a lot today, Ada!" He announced, "Elladan, Elrohir and me-"

"Elladan, Elrohir and _I._"

"And I are finding out where that old track goes. You know, the one that starts behind the granary."

Thranduil nodded, slowly. He knew the path and, unbeknownst to the Elfling, where it led. It was the highroad to the waterfall at the end of the valley and weaved up and down the slopes on the valley between the trees. It was once _the_ path up to the waterfall, until the twins had made an altogether safer one much lower down. He had half a mind to forbid Legolas from going but stopped himself: Legolas was Silvan; should anything untoward happen he could climb up a tree. And besides, recently he'd begun seeing things that weren't there again.

Like extra steps on staircases. He cursed as the non-existent eighteenth step down to the kitchens duly disappeared and he tripped over his own feet and vowed that he'd leave today completely to himself.

Legolas had already settled himself in the gap between Elladan and Elrohir and was quizzing them about the games _he _played at home.

"Do you know how to tree-run?"

"Tree-run?" Elladan repeated, genuinely curious. The princeling nodded so hard it looked like his head would come off his neck,

"You have to keep off the ground for as long as possible but you have to keep going. I'm not very good," he sulked, "my legs are too short." Then he brightened up, "Uncle fell out of a tree once, he stepped on a rotten branch and it snapped."

"This would be Galion?" Elladan qualified. Legolas nodded even harder,

"Uncle." Elladan blinked. "He's Ada's brother. Ada _always _calls him 'gwador'."

"'Gwador' doesn't have to mean a blood relation," Elladan began to explain but was interrupted by Celebrian's warning look.

"You are _not_ tree-running along that path," Thranduil said as he sat on the far side of Erestor and began buttering toast for Legolas, who had yet to acquire the vital skill of spreading butter evenly… or at all. Once the first slice was buttered, he leant over to put it on his son's plate and took a second piece from the basket in the centre of the table. "You shouldn't be tree-running at all; some of the jumps are far too wide."

"Lianna lets me."

"Lianna is a pest and a menace and she'll get you killed one day," the king replied, only half in jest. "The sooner she realises you're not a replacement for her brother the better."

Legolas bit into his toast, feigning hurt.

"Who's Lianna?" Elladan asked.

"Galion's daughter," Legolas said through a mouthful of bread, "She's fantastic. She can hit gold on a target a hundred yards away, and once she disarmed Ada in a sparring match."

All eyes turned to Thranduil, who merely placed the second buttered slice of toast on Legolas' plate and said nothing.

"She's not at home as much as she used to be though," Legolas said, sadly, "she goes scouting for weeks on end. Months!"

"Legolas," Thranduil warned. His son knew the tone; in this context it meant 'eat first, talk later'. Usually the prince complied, but this time he was feeling rebellious. So he swallowed and pointed out,

"But you aren't eating, Ada."

"I'm a grown-up; grown-ups don't need to eat."

"But Lords Elrond and Erestor and Lady Celebrian are eating and _they're_ grown-ups, and Elladan and Elrohir are _almost _grown-ups and they've had three helpings since we sat down."

Legolas' innocent tone was not mirrored in the raised eyebrow Elrond gave Thranduil from the head of the table. Thranduil glared back and the twins looked bashful about how much they had eaten.

oOo

"Why? Why rain‽ Why now‽"

The three young Elves were standing under the eaves of a large oak tree a short way above the granary, watching the water fall from the sky. Though it sounded peaceful and adventurous, Elladan was adamant that it spelt the end of the expedition, at least for today.

"It'll be too dangerous to go up there when the ground has turned to mud, and even if we did reach our destination there's no guarantee we'd get back."

"You know where we're going?" Legolas asked, despondently.

"Of course we know where we're going, and just as well," Elrohir said, sharply, tucking a drenched lock of pitch black hair behind one ear, "If we didn't what on earth would we do if something happened and we had no idea where we were?"

Legolas grudgingly agreed that it was indeed just as well.

"Come," Elrohir said, placing a hand against Legolas' back, "we'll dry off inside and initiate plan B."

At the other end of the valley, in front of the house, Thranduil stood in the front porch and also watched the rain. He had been standing in the ford in the rain but he'd been noticed. Not wanting to explain exactly why he so wanted to stand in the storm and get soaked to the skin, he retreated into the shelter of the house until the concerned passer-by had passed by, then he too initiated plan B; sitting somewhere no one would think to look. He moved out into the courtyard and easily swung into the branches of a tree which grew close by the house. He climbed up it until he was slightly higher than the slope of the roof and transferred onto the tiles. Though they were wet, they gave good enough purchase for one who lived in the trees and he quickly made his way up to the ridge piece. There he sat, perched on the ridge with his hands holding on either side to brace him and legs outstretched on the tiles sloping away to the ground, and drank in the weather. That was the one problem with living in a forest as dense as the Greenwood; the rain never really reached the ground.

Back inside, his son and the twins, all wrapped in towels, sat in a circle and made mischief. They had learnt, from a reliable source (a distracted servant who wanted them out of his hair) that Erestor was taking the opportunity brought by a combination of the stormy weather and Elrond's being otherwise engaged to sort one of the reading rooms which branched off the main library. Which in turn meant ladders and piles of papers and other such wonderful things to tamper with. Legolas, who would giggle too much and give the game away, quite apart from being a scribe's son and, as such, taught that defacing manuscripts was sacrilege, would stall Erestor and give the twins enough time to meddle.

"You won't harm the manuscripts, will you?" Legolas asked, worried by the idea even though he would have no part in it.

"Of course not!" Elladan reassured him, "Not directly, anyway… and nothing important will be damaged."

"We aren't vandals," Elrohir added.

Legolas remained unconvinced but he trusted the twins and liked Erestor so, when the advisor left the library to get yet another cup of tea, the prince followed him and the twins entered the now deserted reading room.

Erestor was surprised when he turned round at the sound of footsteps and saw his shadow, though he wasn't displeased. He smiled at Legolas and the princeling smiled back, "And what can I do for you?"

"You're clearing out the library, aren't you?"

"Well, reorganising it."

"Do you know many stories?"

Erestor closed one eye, "I know the usual ones and a fair few others I'll warrant."

"Ada knows loads. He tells me a bit of one each night. Do you know any he doesn't?"

Erestor laughed, "Well, that all depends on which your father knows." He eyed the Elfling, kindly. A father would have picked up on the over-innocent expression on his face, but Erestor wasn't a father and was none the wiser. "Come with me to the kitchen and we'll see if I know one."

oOo

"Right!" Elladan announced, triumphantly, just over an hour later, "Is there anything we've forgotten?"

The half-full ink well teetered on the edge of a document, ready to fall over at the next opportunity; the supports had been removed from the ladder propped up against the bookshelf; the candle had been changed to one which had almost run out and the papers already organised by Erestor had been disorganised.

"Nothing too terrible, would you say, brother?"

"I agree completely."

"The ink pot was a stroke of genius on your part."

"I thank you."

"Shall we skedaddle now?"

"I rather think we should."

The twins turned their backs on the reasonable level of destruction they had caused and went to find Legolas.

Legolas was feeling both enthralled by Erestor's tale of a poor wanderer who had lost all his money to the barrow-wrights and had to make his way back home by slaying dragons and wargs and rescuing princesses and the like and guilty at what the true intention of his visit had been. His guilt was compounded by the twins' appearance just when the wanderer was being thrown out of a tyrannical king's palace for falling in love with the king's niece.

"There you are!" Elladan exclaimed with convincing exasperation, "Legolas, we've been looking for you everywhere."

"I'm afraid he's been here with me since the rain started. I've been telling him the story of the homeless wanderer."

"Oh, that old yarn," Elrohir said, waving his hand disparagingly, though his eyes lit up when reminded of it and he advised Legolas to try and here the rest before he left. Erestor smiled and said Legolas was more than welcome to ask to hear the rest when he was free. Legolas thanked the advisor but decided he wouldn't; he didn't feel he deserved to hear the end after what he'd agreed to help with.

"It's stopped raining now so we shall grace the world with our presence," Elladan announced, taking a cloth bag from a line of hooks in the pantry and filling it with food. "Lunch," he said in response to Legolas's questioning glance. "Come." He took Legolas' hand and, thanking Erestor for keeping an eye on him, led the prince out onto the lawns. The grass was still wet so they settled on a bench and played a game to see who could spit the pips in the oranges Elladan had brought the furthest, and wondered aloud what would befall Erestor when he returned to work. Legolas forgot his qualms and enjoyed imagining the advisor falling a few feet into one of the mounds of paper around the ladder which, the twins assured him, would be adequate to break his fall.

oOo

"Lord Elrond wishes to speak with you."

The words sank into the three Elves' stomachs and churned there as they followed Lindir to Elrond's office. There the singer left them, so Elladan knocked on the door and an angry voice bade them enter. Elrond loomed behind his desk, his eyebrows as high as Legolas had ever seen them and his face like thunder. Erestor, with ink all over his hands and generally looking dishevelled, stood in a corner and watched, a half guilty, half triumphant expression on his face.

"How any of you could have thought such malicious traps would be funny is beyond me," Elrond began, his voice devoid of any humour. "Would you find it funny If I told you that Erestor has bruising all over his back, has to recopy six long documents due to spilled ink on the originals and has to do two days' worth of organising all over again?"

The younger Elves shook their heads. Legolas, who had never done such a thing before and who hadn't factored in what would happen if they were caught, looked close to tears. Elrond didn't fail to notice, but was still determined to get his point across.

"I shan't pass any punishment until Thranduil arrives… though he seems to have disappeared for the moment… but be assured _something _more than guilt shall happen to the lot of you."

"Please, lord father, we thought Erestor had only been working on it for a few hours," Elrohir said, quietly.

"Only?" Elrond repeated, "Because of course undoing a few hours' work is acceptable."

"We weren't thinking."

"That is self-evident."

"Legolas wasn't involved," Elladan added, "He was with Erestor while we… did this."

"He was, Elrond," Erestor affirmed.

"Though from his current expression he evidently knew what was planned."

Silence fell. An awkward silence which fell on the young Elves and ate into them. Legolas sniffed. _Ada's going to be so upset with me. Ruining documents is such a bad thing to do._ None of the accused dared speak as footsteps approached the door, the doorknob turned and Thranduil, dried from the morning's rain by the afternoon's sun, stepped in.

"Lindir asked me to come here." The king's quick gaze took in the seen and the five other Elves' expressions. His own expression, which had been one of mild confusion (not entirely caused by his summons), became unreadable, "What has he done?"

"Your son has done nothing more than help mine in making Erestor's life difficult, but I fear these traps were overzealous and have crossed the line from practical joke to potentially dangerous pranks. These include defacing of library records and destabilising a ladder."

Here Elrond launched into a long lecture about safety and respect in general. He evidently expected the input of Thranduil's sharp tongue but the king said nothing. He just looked. And that was the worst thing he could have done. Legolas avoided his father's eyes right from the start but the twins didn't. Therefore they soon learnt of Thranduil's most potent weapon against bad behaviour; his expression of deep disappointment. It was far worse that his potentially terrifying ,livid chiding, with raised voice and obviously furious tones. It was as if they had torn the Sinda's heart out with sadness and he hadn't even the energy to speak. And Thranduil wasn't even aware of the effects it had on those it was directed at, or else he may have tried to suppress it. The gaze was like a knife, or a worm with cutting edges to it sides. It wriggled into the young Elves' minds and burned there. Instead of spoon feeding them what they'd done wrong, it made them doubt themselves, analyse their own actions and feel all the worse about what they'd done wrong as a consequence. By the end, all three were looking at the floor, the desk, even into Elrond's obviously furious eyes; anywhere that wasn't into those deep sapphire eyes. They only realised Elrond had stopped talking because the room had fallen silent again, but even though they hadn't listened to what Elrond had said they had all learnt the lesson. The two father's methods were the perfect counterbalance for the other, and made both more potent. It seemed like Elrond had been talking for hours and Thranduil's quiet, melancholy voice when he broke the stillness made a strong contrast to Elrond's loud, outraged one.

"Shall I put mine to bed, Lord Elrond, lest he be misled again." Though it was a question, it was said flatly so it sounded more like a statement.

Elrond nodded, "That is a wise plan, Lord Thranduil."

Thranduil moved to leave and Legolas followed without complaint. The twins were left with just each other under the heavy gaze of their father.

Legolas had to trot to keep up with his father's long, disinterested stride.

"I didn't do anything, Ada," Legolas insisted.

"No? They didn't tell you that documents might be damaged and that Erestor might be hurt?" Thranduil asked without emotion.

"I didn't think to question them. They're older than me and this is their house."

"That doesn't make them right."

"They promised me they wouldn't do anything really nasty."

_Promises are made to be broken_, Thranduil thought, though aloud he simply said, "Is that right?" He opened the door to Legolas' room and ushered him inside.

"I'm sorry," Legolas stammered, tears running down his face.

Thranduil softened, and though though he didn't smile he gently brushed the tears from his son's cheeks and pulled the blankets over his shoulders when he stripped to his shirt and hoes and climbed into bed, "You have learnt a lesson today, Legolas. In the morning you shall apologise to Erestor and fulfil whatever punishment Elrond and I give you." He turned to go, and Legolas mourned the lack of a bedtime story. "If you learn one thing from this, learn that your principles are worth sticking up for. Always."

"Ada," Legolas called as Thranduil stepped through the door, "I'm not really in trouble, am I?"

Thranduil paused before saying, "Good night, tithenlhas-nín," and closed the door behind him, leaving his son without an answer.

* * *

**Translations:**

_Tithenlhas_ – little leaf


	4. Complications

A/N: Happy birthday, Raina! I'm posting this a day early cause I have family visiting tomorrow. I'm sorry that this isn't a whole new story. I tried starting one just now and I couldn't get anywhere. I have a really nasty cold today (Boxing Day) so I can't think straight. Not that I'm really complaining; it could have struck yesterday but, apart from feeling a little down, I was fine. :) So I'm dedicating the last chapters of this to you, and I do have the first chapter of another story which I wrote for you some time ago, but I'm going to wait until my January exams are over before doing anything more with that. I'll try and post the final chapter asap. I hope these chapters please you XD All my love, Eli

A/N 2: Legolas is very young, so obviously everything minorly bad that happens is a _disaster!_

* * *

"Are you coming down to breakfast or not?"

Erestor's firm tones surprised Legolas, and he leapt up from where he'd been sitting on the balcony and bobbed slightly to advisor. "I really am sorry about yesterday," he squeaked, "I didn't think."

Erestor smiled quietly, "Even so you must learn this lesson. But fear not; you are here to relax, not to be punished. Depending on how well you work you and the twins may be finished by morning. Come now; the sooner you're up the sooner you can start. And the sooner you start, the sooner you'll be free."

Legolas dodged round Erestor and through the open door. "Where's Ada?" He asked in the corridor.

"He is busy at the moment, penneth. He asked me to fetch you."

"He doesn't love me," Legolas said, quietly.

Erestor spluttered, "Of course he does! Why wouldn't he?"

"He was disappointed with me all yesterday. He doesn't love me anymore."

Erestor stepped in front of the Elfling so Legolas had to stop. He knelt down to his level: "You made a mistake yesterday, penneth, and your father was giving you space to think about what you have done."

"But he's never done that before."

"Because he usually doesn't have the luxury. Believe me, Legolas, he loves you just as much as ever he did. Just because he was disappointed with you for a few hours doesn't mean years and years of love disappears like smoke on the breeze. As for why he isn't here right now; he's helping me so you can have your time to yourself again sooner."

Legolas eyed him, "Promise?"

"Promise."

Legolas huffed, "Okay." And he allowed himself to be led down into the kitchen.

The twins were already there. They bobbed nervously at the counsellor and pushed the crusts of their toast around their plates.

"Eat quickly," Erestor told Legolas, who nodded and ate his toast plain.

"What do we have to do, Erestor?" Elladan asked, trying to be humble and only half succeeding.

"I have always believed that the punishment should fit the crime," Erestor said, standing at the head of the table next to Elrond and Celebrian, "therefore you shall be bringing the rooms you wrecked back to order."

The three Elves relaxed; that didn't sound too bad.

"And by the way, you owe Thranduil a favour as well. You'll see why in a minute."

The twins slumped back into their seats and stifled groans.

Half an hour later found the three of them standing in the library side room, slowly spinning and taking in the damage. It mainly consisted of scattered papers, but even so it represented hours of work.

"I blame you for this you know," Elrohir said.

"Me?" Elladan exclaimed.

"Mae."

"Why me?"

"Because this was your idea."

"And yours."

"A mere technicality."

"When you two have quite finished," Erestor said, cutting across their argument, "there's an index of where things should go over there," he pointed to a small table in one corner, clear of everything but a very large scroll, "and everything else is here somewhere." His smile was the exact opposite of the twins' expression. Legolas' expression didn't change from one of careful acceptance. "One other thing," Erestor suddenly added, "for goodness' sake don't send Legolas up the ladders. Understood?"

"But he lives in a forest, Erestor. He climbs trees!"

"Not while holding heavy books he doesn't."

The twins pursed their lips but didn't argue. Erestor motioned for Legolas to follow him, "Just before you join the Twins-" 'join' meaning 'you two twins had better have started when we get back' "-I have kept someone from you this morning and I need to rectify that situation."

Erestor led him through a narrow door between two of the book cases, and in a small room beyond there was a desk, set out for two people though one chair was vacant. Documents spread across the table, and various inks and quills lay in a dip in its centre. Candles had burnt low, as had the fire in the grate, but this didn't matter as the morning light streamed through windows high up in the walls above yet more shelves.

The Elf still at the desk looked up from the parchment he was working on and smiled. "Suilad, penneth." He set down his quill, pushed back his chair, and spread his arms. He was wearing the same clothes as he had the day before, his hair was tied up out of the way with a green ribbon and his fingers were ink-stained. Legolas shuffled towards him and clambered onto his lap. Thin yet strong arms held him there. Forgotten, Erestor tied his hair up with the white ribbon on his side of the table and settled back down to work.

"Once a scribe, always a scribe," he said flatly, before a rustle of papers showed his getting back to work. Legolas shifted position to watch him.

"Don't say such things, Erestor!" Thranduil exclaimed, "It leaves such little room for improvement."

"This from the king who jumped at the chance to help me recopy the damaged documents."

"True."

Legolas felt miserable. So Ada would rather replicate words than say good morning to his own son. He was willing to bet that Celebrian never forgot to wake her sons herself. For the first time in a long time, Legolas missed his mother.

Thranduil stroked his son's hair. In his temper, Legolas found his father's fingers freezing and like talons. "I'm sorry I didn't come and see you, penneth, I lost track of time." Legolas tensed as his father kissed his temple, then began wriggling,

"May I leave now?"

"Of course." Thranduil couldn't keep the hurt concern out of his voice. Legolas dropped down from his lap and returned to the twins without a backwards glance.

Despite the twins' determination to loathe and despise every moment of tidying, as soon as the time came for them to climb the ladders they had to concede that they were enjoying themselves. Even Legolas' annoyance at being resigned to the floor evaporated as the twins raced each other to the top of the bookcases and down again. As they neared completion, Erestor came to check on them. "You aren't supposed to be enjoying yourselves!" He chided in jest. Legolas and the twins hung their heads until the advisor had retreated to his small room, whereupon they began silently imitating his manner.

They finished as the bell for lunch tolled and left without permission but having finished their task.

"I love Erestor," Elladan announced as they walked along the corridors to the kitchens, "he just can't keep grudges."

"He's firm though. Do you remember the time we tried to tripwire the main stairs."

Elladan grinned and Legolas clamoured for the detailed story.

"You aren't putting ideas into his head, are you?" Celebrian asked with the trio reached the kitchen and she caught the end of the tale of a reckless adventure.

"Of course not, Naneth," Elrohir reassured her as Legolas clambered onto her lap. Celebrian looked down in surprise but didn't throw him off. Right then, Legolas was oh so jealous of the twins. Celebrian's lap was so much more comfortable than his father's, he couldn't feel her ribs through her chest and she wasn't cold like Thranduil but actually felt alive. In his annoyance, Legolas had forgotten that Thranduil tried to make up for his bony frame by papering his son, whereas Celebrian was talking to him no more than she was to her own sons as they organised what to do now they had the long afternoon to themselves again.

"I suppose it's too late in the day to go up to the waterfall," Elladan was saying.

"I don't see why-"

"By the high road."

"Oh." While it took only an hour or so to reach the falls by the low road, the high road wound far more and was so overgrown now that one needed a sharp blade to travel it. It could easily take the rest of the daylight just to get to the falls. "Does it have to be the high road?"

"We intended it to be an adventure for Legolas."

Celebrian bit her lip, "Well if you take a lantern with you and provisions, and have a quick lunch, I think you can still do it."

Elladan clapped, "Quick with luncheon, then."

oOo

"Are you coming down to lunch?" Erestor asked as he and Thranduil rose and Thranduil donned his coat once more.

"I don't think so," the king replied as he pulled his hair out from under his collar and undid the ribbon. "I'm not hungry."

In fact he couldn't think of anything other than the need to get somewhere noisy, to drown out the low humming singing he could hear between his ears.

Erestor closed an eye, "I worry about you sometimes, meldir."

"And I worry about the world," Thranduil replied, "Makes us even."

"Thank you for helping me. They would have taken so long to copy up on my own."

"Well they weren't done in no time at all even with the two of us. How long have we been working on them now?"

"Don't!" Erestor exclaimed, stretching his cramped limbs. "Well, I shall leave you to enjoy the rest of the day."

They separated in the corridor, with Erestor heading to the kitchens (where the Elflings' quick lunch was in fact taking quite a while) and Thranduil heading for the gardens.

From a high vantage point far down the garden, Thranduil leant on a tree and watched the spectacle unfolding around the plunge pool of the waterfall. Every so often, a group of friends would dare each other to stand directly under the falls, and to stand there as long as possible while the waters hammered onto their bare shoulders. It was a male sport; though some women came down to bathe in the waters they kept their shoulders covered and were therefore disqualified. It had to be said that, in this case, both the women outlasted all seven of the men under the falls by many minutes. But it wasn't the game which so intrigued the king. Even from where he was, the falls' roar was loud. Standing underneath them the noise must be deafening. All at once, he made up his mind and went back to his rooms to get the necessary items before making his way along the low path to the waterfall.

It was at about this time that the twins and Legolas finally began their intrepid adventure along the high path. The climb up from the granary was steep and surprisingly rocky. The twins surrounded the little prince, which was just as well as his weaker limbs occasionally failed him and he was saved only by Elladan behind him. After meters of sheer cliff, the path levelled out and was surprisingly easy going for a long while, so long as the three put the sheer drop to their left out of their minds. It was slow going, for many creepers and sometimes even branches of trees blocked their path and had to be hacked through with the sturdy knife Elrohir had brought for this purpose. But Legolas smiled; his tunic was snared, there was dust and dirt on his face and he was slightly out of breath: he felt that he was finally properly exploring.

When Thranduil reached the near bank below the waterfall, no one else was there. Or at least, no one else was down at the base of the falls with him. He had a basket with him which, though it contained a towel, was mainly for his clothes so they didn't get overly dirty. Kicking off his boots, he stripped to his undershirt and hoes and walked out under the falls without the ceremony those competing had demanded. The shock of the force and coldness of the water took his breath away at first but he soon grew accustomed to it. It wasn't the water he was interested in after all, not directly anyway. The roar of it drove out anything else. He couldn't hear the birds in the trees mere feet away, or the usual business conversations of passers-by turn to varying degrees of amusement as they saw Greenwood's king under the waterfall. All there was was the noise of the water. He closed his eyes and swept his already sodden hair away from his face and breathed in deeply. He would have smiled had he thought to do so.

"What's going on?" Elrond demanded as he approached the knot of people which had formed on the paths around the falls, paths which, though they came near, didn't lead to the rushing waters. He was allowed through to the front and blinked several times at what he saw. The hems of Thranduil's light blue hoes flapped wetly against his ankles in the slight draft from the rushing water. His light blue shirt stuck to his thin frame, translucent now and heavy. It accentuated the king's thinness; his arms too thin to be just lithe, the deep hollows around his collarbone and the narrowness of his waist. Elrond swallowed; he knew that that shirt, which now hung off the Sinda as though made for someone else, had once fitted the Elf like a glove. Not so long ago. When Míriel still lived. The worst part was Elrond knew he was the only one in this gathering who saw someone wasting away. The others were too captivated by Thranduil's beauty, his perfect skin showing through the deep V-neck of his shirt as well as his face and hands, his long slender fingers which were considered highly desirable by all races of Elves, his hair, more brown now rather than golden yet still waving despite the weight of the water in it, his gently closed eyes. Standing there, Elrond realised that Thranduil relied on this beauty to hide his troubles, the rest of him which was too near starved to be envied. His next realisation forced Elrond to turn and leave; unless something was done Thranduil would let his grief kill him, and Elrond was damned if he would let that happen.

Thranduil didn't know any of this. Didn't know of the envious looks cast in his direction. Didn't know of the plans beginning to form in Elrond's mind which concerned him closely. He didn't even know that he was too thin. He just never had a large appetite, that was all.

"Look at that view!" Elladan exclaimed, pulling Legolas in front of him so the Elfling could see what he saw. A break in the trees below them offered a panorama across the whole valley. Its beauty took Legolas' breath away.

"I wish I lived here!" He whispered, awed.

"You aren't the first person to say that," Elladan told him, "and I have a feeling you won't be the last."

"Come on!" Elrohir called from further up ahead, "We're almost there! Do you want to have time to go for a swim or not?"

"Don't run!" Elladan warned the younger Elf as Legolas made to dart past him to Elrohir. Elrohir raised an eyebrow in challenge to his twin before turning round and walking just before the princeling, as before.

For a split second.

Then Legolas was screaming. Elladan rushed up to him in disbelief and both watched as Elrohir tumbled down the valley side, coming to rest far below them against a tree.

"Stay here," Elladan ordered Legolas before skittering down after his twin. He found him dazed but otherwise alright, or so Elrohir claimed. But then he couldn't see the angry gash in his arm. "Legolas!" Elladan called again, "Get help, quick!"

Legolas nodded and, scrambling up into the trees, ran along their boughs towards the falls.


	5. Waiting

A/N: Happy New Year. 2012; year of the London Olympics and the Queen's diamond jubilee… err, great?

* * *

After a while, Thranduil moved back to the bank, wrung out his hair and shrugged on and belted his tunic. As he made to put on his black sash, a scream from the slopes above rang down the valley. Heads turned and Thranduil's blood ran cold; he knew that scream. With sash still in hand, he ran towards the sound, leaving his boots, coat and the basket by the falls.

Legolas ran blindly along the branches down the slope for a while, before reverting to the ground. He caused many minor landslides and slid with the displaced earth. Anxious tears ran unnoticed down his cheeks. He came upon the low path all at once and stumbled to a halt. Stopping to catch his breath, the Elfling looked up and down the path; though saw no one for the trees, so he carried on towards the falls, which were further away than he had thought.

Elladan sat slowly beside his brother and placed a hand on his head. Elrohir's wounded arm was dead to all feeling, so he looked up at his twin in confusion. The knock to his head was dulling any pain that might have reached his brain.

"Where's Legolas going?" He asked, trying to rise but Elladan pushed him down again.

"Best you stay how you are."

"What's wrong?" Elrohir demanded. Elladan tried and failed to swallow the lump in his throat and looked straight ahead with wide eyes.

Thranduil was sprinting along the path, his strides lengthening all the while. He weaved in between the Elves he could avoid and ploughed through those he couldn't. One Elf ran out of path and fell over the edge into a briar bush. Thranduil didn't notice to shout his apologies. It took a second or two for him to process the small Elfling running equally quickly towards him. When he realised who it was he swept down and pulled Legolas into his arms.

"Hannon Eru!" He exclaimed as he span slightly, "I thought something had happened to you."

"Not me," Legolas wept, "Elrohir."

"What?" Thranduil asked, breathlessly. Legolas explained what had happened in a wall of noise and, as soon as his father set him down, ran back the way he'd come.

"Tell me what's happened!"

"No, Elrohir, I mustn't." Elladan's helplessness to help Elrohir was driving him to tears but he held them back for his twin's sake. He felt he might burst with the effort.

"I feel lightheaded. Why? What's wrong with me?"

Elladan turned back to his twin at the fear in his voice and saw him blood soaking into the leaf litter.

"It'll be alright."

"What will?"

"Someone will come."

"Elladan, I don't understand!" Elrohir moved his head and for the first time saw the gash on his arm. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Elladan blinked the tears down his face,

"I _told_ you not to look."

"How could you tell me that? How did this happen?" Elrohir's breathing had quickened. Panic was evident in both his expression and his voice.

"Gwanunig, you must calm down."

"I can't. Have you seen my arm? I can't!"

"It'll be better if you calm yourself." He placed a hand on Elrohir's shoulder as he fought to keep his own voice level. "It'll make things easier-"

"Is that bone I can see?" Elrohir whined, "Oh Eru, I'm going to die!"

"Don't say such things!" Elladan snapped, biting his lip, "Of course you aren't going to die!" He willed Legolas to hurry up.

Elrohir tried to look away and found he couldn't take his eyes of the gash and of the sight of his lifeblood fertilising the ground on which he lay.

"Ada, hurry up!"

Legolas pulled harder on his father's arm and Thranduil stumbled up the steep incline, trying to keep up.

"You've lost Legolas, haven't you?" Elrohir said.

"No," Elladan shook his head and wiped away his tears with the pad of his thumb.

"Where is he then?"

"Getting help, like I told you."

"Thranduil's going to kill you."

"No he won't."

"_I'll_ die here."

"Shut up, Elrohir!" Elladan leapt up and rounded on his brother. He stood then, suddenly unable to move, clenching and unclenching his fists is desperation, until rustling reached him and then Legolas and Thranduil immerged behind him.

"Where are you going?" Thranduil snapped, pushing Elladan aside so he could see Elrohir. Like Elladan and Legolas, he took in the gash, the slight head wound and the terrified expression. But unlike Elladan and Legolas he was a veteran and he had seen this dozens upon dozens of times. Before Legolas could sneak past him, he blocked him with his arm. "Take the low path and warn the house."

"But-"

"Go."

Legolas' gaze flicked back to the twins before he turned and left. Thranduil passed his black sash to Elladan. "Bandage or tourniquet his arm, whichever you see fit to do."

Elladan took the sash but made no move. He just blinked at Thranduil.

"Do it now while I distract him, hurry up," the king ordered.

He moved to Elrohir's side and gently eased moved the twin's head so he was looking at Thranduil and away from his wounded arm. The Sinda used his long hand as a further blinker to narrow Elrohir's vision to just Thranduil and the forest behind him.

"Now," Thranduil said, calmly, "I expect you're wondering what all this fuss has been about."

"I see bones." Elrohir stated, emphatically.

"You can see them now?" Thranduil asked, slightly anxiously, wondering whether he should look at the space over his shoulder which so held the younger Elf's attention.

"No," Elrohir exclaimed as though he were talking to an idiot, "I'm not mad. Only madmen see things that aren't there."

Something flickered in the Elvenking's eyes but he kept the rest of his face passive.

"My wound. It's gone down to the bone."

Thranduil smiled quietly and brushed Elrohir's cheek with the thumb of the hand which held his head steady, "I can assure you it hasn't."

"You haven't looked."

Thranduil flicked his gaze back to the wound and, after glaring at Elladan to hurry up, looked back at Elrohir, "Well I have now and there are no bones to be seen."

Elladan bound his twin's arm as quickly and as best he could, but the length of ribbon in the sash was too short and the blood was seeping through the material and staining Elladan's hands already. To secure it in place, Elladan had to tug on it, which caused Elrohir to yelp and whine in pain. His head rolled towards the ground so Thranduil caught it in his free hand.

"Stay awake," he ordered in the reassuring yet firm voice he used to push bills through at council meetings. "Stay awake or you shan't know what we're going to do next."

Elladan rolled Elrohir onto his good side and held his wounded arm slightly up and away from his body as Elrohir murmured, "What are we doing?"

"Well one of us, either Elladan or myself, will carry you back to Imladris and there your father will set you right." As he spoke, he looked at Elladan. He saw how shaken the still relatively young Elf was. There was no way he'd be able to carry his own bleeding twin up the valley, so Thranduil corrected himself. "_I'll _be carrying you back.

"Help me pick him up, Elladan."

Elladan helped support his twin's weight as Thranduil settled him correctly in his arms and placed the hand of Elrohir's injured arm against Thranduil's shoulder. Elrohir's fingers laced through the fabric and he gripped with what seemed to Elladan to be the last of his strength. Blood ran down to his shoulder, but there was less than there would have been had the wound been below his heart.

"Make sure I don't slip on the damnable slope," was Thranduil's next order. Elladan wasn't too sure how to do this so he walked just in front of Thranduil, holding his arms out like a barrier between his companions and the slope.

The going was painstakingly slow, but eventually they made the relatively level path and there Thranduil sped up. Elrohir could feel Thranduil's dragged left step and muttered a jibe which neither Thranduil nor Elladan heard. Elladan was too preoccupied wondering how Thranduil could carry someone taller and heavier than himself and hoping that the king's strength wouldn't leave him. He had no wish to carry the person he considered an extension of himself in such a helpless state. Thranduil was too busy trying to get to Imladris in time for Elrond to save Elrohir's life. He was almost running, or maybe floating would be a more pat description. He fitted up steps and seemed not to tread on the ground as heavily as someone bearing such a load should. Elves he passed by who would have jumped to help made no move for they could tell that it was in the twin's best interest if Thranduil was left alone. Even so, as they approached the house, they met with a relief party who took the young lord out of the king's arms and onto a litter and bore him away. Elladan followed quickly after them but Thranduil, urgency gone, slowed and finally ambled into the house some minutes after Elrohir had been swept through. He wended his way to the Healing Houses, but, hearing the commotion from within several corridors away, didn't enter but instead slid down a wall and sat there, head in hands, hoping and praying he'd done enough. It was all well and good his bringing Elrohir back but only Elrond and his healers could save him.

A period of time later, Celebrian was sent for and the apprentice healer given the errand passed the king, acknowledging him though he failed to acknowledge her. His head wasn't in his hands anymore but resting against the wall. His eyes stared straight ahead. His hands were in his lap. His right leg was bent but his left was stretched out. She didn't slow but looked back at him before she rounded the corner. A short while later Celebrian hurried into the corridor and Thranduil tucked his left leg somewhat under his chin too so she didn't trip up. Wafts of anxious conversation reached him as the door to the Healing House opened.

Then the door slammed. All was quiet. And stayed quiet for what felt to Thranduil like a long time. He hoped this inactivity meant things were going well on the other side of the wall but he had no way of knowing.

Just as he was thinking about taking a look himself, the young healer returned, this time with a small tray of food. Crackers, cheese and grapes for the most part. She set it down next to him.

"I thought you looked hungry."

Thranduil eyed the food and realised that he was in fact starving. He nodded and thanked her.

"Would you like me to take a look at your feet for you too, herdir?"

Amused despite the situation, Thranduil realised she didn't know who he was. He was in no mind to tell her. "My feet?"

"Yes, they're in quite a state."

"They're just muddy."

"Oh." She didn't look convinced but gave a bobbing nod nonetheless. The noise from the Healing Houses had increased again and she looked towards the doors with some trepidation. "I had better get back to them."

"Is he alright?" Thranduil found himself asking.

"He has a good chance," she said, nervously, "though I'd hate to say for certain he'll pull through only for him to have bad luck."

Thranduil nodded, "I understand. I shan't keep you."

She smiled and returned to her duties. Thranduil began eating the grapes. A short while after that, however, Legolas found him. Erestor had been keeping him out of the way, but as the hours progressed no amount of stories or quiet games could keep the young Elfling's mind from wandering, so a few minutes previously, the advisor had admitted defeat and allowed the prince to go wandering. Thranduil felt a pang of guilt when he saw him; he should have sought him out as soon as he returned to the house but he had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

Legolas didn't care about this though. As soon as he saw his father, he ran to him, clambered into his lap, threw his arms around his neck and buried his face in his chest. He felt safe here; safe against the fear which filled him for someone he'd only known just over a week. In that moment he never wanted to leave his father's sight again. Thranduil wrapped his arms around his son and reminded himself that all was not yet lost.

They sat there, on the floor at the side of a corridor, for hours and the world passed them by. They must have both fallen asleep eventually, for when morning broke they found that someone had come along in the grey hours and put a blanket over them. Imladris had been turned upside down and in the commotion no one had had time to wake them and escort them back to their rooms. Legolas was too young to understand the implications of this but it filled his father's heart with dread.

* * *

A/N: This was supposed to be the last chapter but it looks as though there's going to be a 6th…


	6. Healings

A/N: If they have viols by the time of _The Hobbit_, I think it's reasonable to assume they have violas too.

* * *

Celebrian was sitting on a bench at the top of the garden reading a long letter from her parents which had arrived earlier that morning. Though few things changed in Lothlórien, her father always found a lot to write about; he made grand tales out of small things. He had always been a good story teller. She found she missed them, not in a painful way but out of fondness, and vowed to take the twins over the mountains to see their grandparents when Elrohir's arm had healed.

Music was wafting up from further down the valley. It had started off, as always, with Thranduil's viola playing a well-known melody on its own, but it had quickly been joined by Lindir's lyre and voice. The Lady of Imladris smiled as the song ended and the players received scattered applause, imagining Lindir's always over-elaborate bows to his audiences, be they one or one hundred strong. Celebrian raised her eyes and watched the players through a gap in the trees. Thranduil was playing again, and Lindir held his lyre ready to join in, though this time the tune was unknown to him. Celebrian frowned; she knew all the lays and Sindar and Silvan melodies though the one she heard now was not amongst them, and Thranduil was no composer.

Though the music reached his office, Elrond paid it no heed. He stood just to the side of his desk, as he had done when the messenger delivered the letter still in his hand. He was frozen. The letter was from Galion. He knew he had to tell Thranduil of its contents but he knew with equal certainty that they would send the king into a rage. And not at Elrond; that was somehow the worst part. But he could delay this for a while, so he stirred himself and made his way to the Healing House.

Elrohir was already awake. He had first woken two days after his accident and now, three days later, he was getting more and more frustrated with his light-headedness and 'imprisonment' in bed. He feigned annoyance when he saw his father enter, though after a raised eyebrow from Elrond, his scowl broke into a smile.

"Can I get out of bed yet?" He demanded.

"I don't know," was Elrond's standard reply, "can you?"

Elrohir sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. After a brief wave of dizziness, he stood up and shuffled around to where his father watched. Elrond's smile broadened.

"That doesn't mean you're discharged."

Elrohir's triumphant expression vanished. "But I can walk! I feel fine!"

"I don't want you over exerting yourself and then collapsing on the stairs." Elrohir was about to protest that he had never done such a thing before Elrond added, "Like last time."

"That was an accident. I tripped over my own feet; that could have happened anyway."

"You do your special awareness an injustice." Elrond replied in a tone that told his son the debate was over, "But I will send word to Elladan and Legolas that you pine for company before I get back to what I came here to do."

Elrohir reluctantly made his way back to bed while Elrond asked one of the minor healers to run the errand for him. His son watched him as he took a large, heavily bound book down from the shelves at one end of the long room and placed it on the small desk there. He opened the book on the required page, flattened the letter he'd been carrying, filled a quill with in and began transferring information. Elrohir closed one eye as though this would help the other see what was being copied.

"Who's that for?" he asked.

"None of your business," was the curt reply.

The page was quickly filled in, blotched and the book replaced on the shelf. Elrond carefully folded the letter again and put in in the inside pocket of his robes.

"I'm afraid I can't stay today," he said, "I have business to attend to."

"Is it to do with that letter?"

Elrond closed one eye, "Possibly." Then he swept out, leaving his son frustrated and intrigued.

He wasn't alone for long, though, for a few minutes later Elladan came into the room with a spring in his step. "I hear you have been endeavouring to spring yourself from your bounds?"

"So would you in my position," Elrohir countered as Elladan settled at the foot of his twin's bed. "The problem is Ada's right-"

"Yes, that is one of his annoying habits."

"I can't walk very far without feeling all lightheaded and tripping myself up."

Elladan grinned and leant closer, "No one leaves Elrond's realm and no one will. You are his guest here for ever more."

"No! Don't say that!" Elrohir cried in mock fear.

"In this forsaken land of death and despair. We must decide what to do with you."

Elrohir's brows furrowed, "What to do with me?"

"Indeed. How to keep you here. I see your arm is already injured; maybe we should hang you by it-"

"Elladan-"

"Off a mountain pinnacle!"

"You've gone too far, gwanunig."

Elladan brought his knees up to his chin and hugged them, "Maybe. But Nana, Ada and Erestor should be impressed that we both remembered any of the stories. I don't know how they managed to take all the life out of them but they did."

"Maybe we should ask Thranduil to reiterate some of them while he's here?"

"Maybe, but I asked him about Maedhros a few days ago and he actually hissed at me. 'I refuse to sully my tongue with the names of that accused House!'"

"Bit strong."

Elladan wrinkled his nose, "He wasn't too happy when I asked about Thingol either. 'If your own grandfather hasn't told you about your ancestors I don't see why _I _should.'"

Elrohir frowned, but Elladan suddenly smiled conspiratorially, "I think it's because he doesn't know the old stories any more than we do."

The door creaked again.

"Ah!" Elladan exclaimed, "Mayhap your rescuer comes." He turned to face the newcomer, "Have you an Eagle and a sharp blade with which to free this hapless Elf?"

Legolas looked confused, but he held up the thing he _was_ carrying; his father's cane. Elrohir's eyes lit up and Elladan was equally surprised: "I suppose that's actually more useful."

oOo

Elrond perched beside his wife and listened to Thranduil playing – he had moved out of sight.

"Do you think now would be a good time to disturb him?" He asked.

Celebrian smiled at her husband, "You're the one who knows emotions."

Elrond snorted but made no direct reply. "I have some news which is in fact good but which he'll take as bad."

The shadow of a frown crossed Celebrian's face. "You should tell him as soon as possible. If the news is bad in his view he'll only be angrier if you keep it from him. Anyone would be."

Elrond nodded and kissed her. "You are the voice of truth, as ever," he told her before getting up to go down to the Sinda.

"Good luck," Celebrian wished him quietly.

Elrond approached, nervously. He hoped that so long as the king was holding a precious and perishable instrument his physical outburst wouldn't be too violent. Not that the king's tongue was any easier to deal with. Thranduil had his eyes closed and Elrond's initial coughs were drowned out by the sound of the music, so he had to speak quite loudly to be heard.

"I have some news for you, meldir."

Thranduil stopped playing abruptly and glared ferociously at the Elven lord. When no explanation for the interruption was forthcoming, he raised an accusing eyebrow.

"I have a letter here," Elrond said slowly, "from Galion."

The transformation of the king's facial expression was immediate. Fury gave way to fear, "Something's happened! I knew it would. How many are dead?"

Elrond held up his hands, "No one has died." _Yet_, he mentally added. "Galion wrote simply to give me information, information which I have great need of." He handed the letter over to Thranduil, who took it and read it with a confused expression. Though when he'd finished reading there was no confusion in his face. He was trembling ever so slightly. It took Elrond a second or two to realise that Thranduil was shaking with rage. He stormed past the Elven lord across the lawns to the stables.

Elrond had no difficulty in guessing his intention, "I shan't let you leave. Not like this." Apart from a jumbled muttering, he got no response: Thranduil kept walking. "Did you hear me, Thranduil?"

"Oh I heard you alright," Thranduil hissed, "But I am afraid, Elrond, that at this moment your commands have little authority over me."

"Thranduil, I demand that you stay where you are."

Elrond's level voice had some effect, for Thranduil stopped dead in his tracks, chest heaving. Then he spun round to face his companion. "How dare he?" He screamed, voice cracking with its pitch, "That information wasn't his to tell!"

"I would have asked it of you before you left, Thranduil."

"Yes but then _I _would have told you. It would have been my decision. How _dare_ he make my decisions for me?"

"It makes little difference-"

"Oh it does," Thranduil's voice had faded to a deadly whisper, "what is more private than health records? I told him those in complete confidence. _No one_ knows mine without my having told them!"

"I understand, but it would be highly dangerous for you to hide them away. No healer experienced enough to… to deal with the worst knew before Galion wrote to me."

"Míriel knows."

"She's dead, Thranduil," Elrond said quietly, "she can't help you on this earth again."

"I know she's dead," Thranduil spat, "I watched the life drain from her body knowing I could do nothing. Knowing it was my fault."

"I _had_ to know," Elrond pressed.

"And how much help are you hundreds of miles away?"

"You'd be surprised."

"I'd rather die that entrust myself to you."

Elrond blinked and swallowed several times. Thranduil made to stride back towards the lower gardens but Elrond stepped in front of him. He changed course but Elrond blocked him again.

"Get out of my way," Thranduil hissed, walking into Elrond until he could physically walk no further. The first of many tears were running down his face. Tears which he had held in for years.

"I can't leave you to yourself in such a state. You need to come inside with me and calm down. Come one, I'll have a bath run for you and-"

He stopped abruptly and didn't start again. Thranduil had first snapped the bow he was holding in half and then, throwing the bits of bow to the ground and gripping the viola round it's neck, raised it high above his head and smashed it against the wall to his right as hard as it could. The instrument screamed as it perished. The shock of seeing delicately crafted wood splinter into a hundred pieces and the strings curl tightly up on themselves shocked Elrond into silence. He stepped back from the Sinda, who still held the grotesquely distorted neck of the instrument so tightly in his hand his knuckle joints seemed about to burst through his skin. "_Get. Out. Of. My. Way."_ He repeated.

Elrond stepped to one side and watched as Thranduil strode down the valley, hurling the remnant of the viola into the bushes as he went.

oOo

"I know for a fact that you aren't supposed to be up, young Master Elrohir."

Elrohir beamed at Erestor as he leant on a combination of Elladan and Thranduil's cane. "It was Legolas' idea."

"Really?" Erestor turned his attention to the nervously smiling prince, "My, it's been less than a fortnight and already they've turned you into a small version of them."

Legolas' anxious expression vanished as Erestor smiled. It was then that Elrond walked in, hiding his unease from the younger Elves as best he could. He led Erestor over to one side and murmured,

"Make sure Thranduil's back by sunset, and if not launch a search."

"What's happened?" Erestor asked, shocked.

"I don't know," Elrond lied, "but whatever it was it's put him in a right state. I don't want him trying to leave the valley on foot or, worse, injuring himself like that one," he gave an almost imperceptible nod towards Elrohir, "in the dark. We all know how tricksy the slopes are at night."

Erestor nodded. Elrond smiled for a split second before turning round and carting Elrohir back to the Healing Houses by the scruff of his neck. Elladan and Legolas traipsed after them. But Erestor couldn't quite bring himself to smile at the plan foiled.

As darkness fell, he stood on the porch where, in almost an Age's time, the Council of Elrond would be held, and scanned the valley. Elrond, he knew, was waiting in the kitchens. Thranduil hadn't eaten for many hours and both Elves were hoping hunger would force him back.

Just as Erestor was about to suggest starting the search, he spotted a pale figure making its slow way up the path to the house. It seemed a little distorted though, and Erestor's heart sank into his boots. But as Thranduil came closer, he could see that the strange shape was caused by an extraordinarily large brace of rabbits in his hand. His head was bowed as though he didn't wish to return. As he made the porch, Erestor tried to take the rabbits off him but Thranduil's grip on them was like a vice. There was rabbit blood on the white knife at his belt. He had thrown it to kill each of the rabbits he brought back. The brace was large because it had taken a lot of dead conies before his anger subsided.

Erestor followed the Sinda down to the kitchens where his catch was dumped with a thud on the table. Elrond looked at the rabbits and then up at Thranduil. His eyes were bloodshot but his tears were spent.

Silence followed as the Elves of Imladris waited respectfully for Thranduil to make the first move. Eventually, and without looking up, he spoke. His voice was rough.

"The living are more important than the dead."

Elrond and Erestor made noises of agreement and Thranduil finally let go of the rabbits.

Elrond rose and placed the tips of his fingers against Thranduil's inner elbow, "Come. I think we should all get some rest."

But Thranduil shook his head. "I'm not tired," He said, slowly. There was another pause as Elrond let go of Thranduil's arm, then he asked, "Is there any pastry?"

Elrond blinked, "I… beg your pardon?"

"Is there any pastry?" Thranduil repeated, looking up at him with deadened eyes.

"I'll check," Erestor said, and left for the pantry.

"What do you want pastry for at this hour?" Elrond exclaimed.

"To bake with it," Thranduil replied, simply, "What else?"

"Lemon curd tarts!"

Elladan and Legolas fell on the desserts at breakfast the next morning. Thranduil sat apathetic in his usual chair. Elrond moved to sit next to him.

"Why?" He asked, genuinely curious. Thranduil said nothing at first.

"These are the best I've ever tasted!" Elladan announced, forgetting his age and trying to eat two at once.

"My mother's recipe," Thranduil said quietly so only Elrond could hear, "I don't eat them myself anymore but whenever I make them I think of her."

Elrond smiled, "She was indeed a gifted baker."

"I saw them stab her in the back, but not before she'd sent six of them to hell. Her last wish was for me to save myself. I would never have left her had it not been. She was killed in cold blood."

"Who by?"

No answer. But Thranduil didn't look sad when he spoke of her death, just blank. Elrond hoped that in time Míriel's death would be blankness too, and now Thranduil's sash was no more that seemed one step closer. Elrond's heart was gladdened by this; he was sure the removal of that ribbon was what had allowed Thranduil to finally mourn his wife the night before.

"Ada?" Elrond's private triumph was interrupted when Legolas bounded into view, lemon curd spread over his lips, "When Elrohir's better can we go home? I miss Lianna."

Thranduil smiled quietly and nodded, "Mae, ion-nín; I think that would be best." Legolas grinned at Elrond and Elrond found himself grinning back.

_I meth_


End file.
